The clock is now ticking on a strike deadline at Mesaba Airlines.
If the regional carrier and its pilots fail to reach a contract agreement by the end of Jan. 9, pilots are positioned to shut down the airline that provides more than 600 daily commuter flights for Northwest Airlines.
The National Mediation Board on Wednesday declared the start of a 30-day cooling off period, which will end at 11:01 p.m. CST on Jan. 9.
Both sides say they want an agreement, but neither side expects much progress until the strike deadline draws near.
Mesaba's 844 pilots opened contract talks in June 2001, and both sides sought help from a federal mediator in 2002. Talks broke down last week, and the mediation board offered binding arbitration to settle the contract.
Although the pilots requested arbitration in August, pilot union leaders rejected it on Monday because they preferred to trigger a strike deadline.
........................................................cont. on the link below:
http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/4261338.html
If the regional carrier and its pilots fail to reach a contract agreement by the end of Jan. 9, pilots are positioned to shut down the airline that provides more than 600 daily commuter flights for Northwest Airlines.
The National Mediation Board on Wednesday declared the start of a 30-day cooling off period, which will end at 11:01 p.m. CST on Jan. 9.
Both sides say they want an agreement, but neither side expects much progress until the strike deadline draws near.
Mesaba's 844 pilots opened contract talks in June 2001, and both sides sought help from a federal mediator in 2002. Talks broke down last week, and the mediation board offered binding arbitration to settle the contract.
Although the pilots requested arbitration in August, pilot union leaders rejected it on Monday because they preferred to trigger a strike deadline.
........................................................cont. on the link below:
http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/4261338.html